scholarly journals Changes in Organic Matter Deposition Can Impact Benthic Marine Meiofauna in Karst Subterranean Estuaries

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Brankovits ◽  
Shawna N. Little ◽  
Tyler S. Winkler ◽  
Anne E. Tamalavage ◽  
Luis M. Mejía-Ortíz ◽  
...  

Subsurface mixing of seawater and terrestrial-borne meteoric waters on carbonate landscapes creates karst subterranean estuaries, an area of the coastal aquifer with poorly understood carbon cycling, ecosystem functioning, and impact on submarine groundwater discharge. Caves in karst platforms facilitate water and material exchange between the marine and terrestrial environments, and their internal sedimentation patterns document long-term environmental change. Sediment records from a flooded coastal cave in Cozumel Island (Mexico) document decreasing terrestrial organic matter (OM) deposition within the karst subterranean estuary over the last ∼1,000 years, with older sediment likely exported out of the cave by intense storm events. While stable carbon isotopic values (δ13Corg ranging from −22.5 to −27.1‰) and C:N ratios (ranging from 9.9 to 18.9) indicate that mangrove and other terrestrial detritus surrounding an inland sinkhole are the primarily sedimentary OM supply, an upcore decrease in bulk OM and enrichment of δ13Corg values are observed. These patterns suggest that a reduction in the local mangrove habitat decreased the terrestrial particulate OM input to the cave over time. The benthic foraminiferal community in basal core sediment have higher proportions of infaunal taxa (i.e., Bolivina) and Ammonia, and assemblages shift to increased miliolids and less infaunal taxa at the core-top sediment. The combined results suggest that a decrease in terrestrial OM through time had a concomitant impact on benthic meiofaunal habitats, potentially by impacting dissolved oxygen availability at the microhabitat scale or resource partitioning by foraminifera. The evidence presented here indicates that landscape and watershed level changes can impact ecosystem functioning within adjacent subterranean estuaries.

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 5421-5432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mi-Hee Lee ◽  
Jean-Lionel Payeur-Poirier ◽  
Ji-Hyung Park ◽  
Egbert Matzner

Abstract. Heavy storm events may increase the amount of organic matter in runoff from forested watersheds as well as the relation of dissolved to particulate organic matter. This study evaluated the effects of monsoon storm events on the runoff fluxes and on the composition of dissolved (< 0.45 µm) and particulate (0.7 µm to 1 mm) organic carbon and nitrogen (DOC, DON, POC, PON) in a mixed coniferous/deciduous (mixed watershed) and a deciduous forested watershed (deciduous watershed) in South Korea. During storm events, DOC concentrations in runoff increased with discharge, while DON concentrations remained almost constant. DOC, DON and NO3–N fluxes in runoff increased linearly with discharge pointing to changing flow paths from deeper to upper soil layers at high discharge, whereas nonlinear responses of POC and PON fluxes were observed likely due to the origin of particulate matter from the erosion of mineral soil along the stream benches. The integrated C and N fluxes in runoff over the 2-month study period were in the order of DOC > POC and NO3–N > DON > PON. The integrated DOC fluxes in runoff during the study period were much larger at the deciduous watershed (16 kg C ha−1) than at the mixed watershed (7 kg C ha−1), while the integrated NO3–N fluxes were higher at the mixed watershed (5.2 kg N ha−1) than at the deciduous watershed (2.9 kg N ha−1). The latter suggests a larger N uptake by deciduous trees. Integrated fluxes of POC and PON were similar at both watersheds. The composition of organic matter in soils and runoff indicates that the contribution of near-surface flow to runoff was larger at the deciduous than at the mixed watershed. Our results demonstrate different responses of particulate and dissolved C and N in runoff to storm events as a combined effect of tree species composition and watershed specific flow paths.


2004 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 223 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Volk ◽  
S.C. George ◽  
C.J. Boreham ◽  
R.H. Kempton

The molecular composition of fluid inclusion (FI) oils from Leander Reef–1, Houtman–1 and Gage Roads–2 provide evidence of the origin of palaeo-oil accumulations in the offshore Perth Basin. These data are complemented by compound specific isotope (CSI) profiles of n-alkanes for the Leander Reef–1 and Houtman–1 samples, which were acquired on purified n-alkane fractions gained by micro-fractionation of lean FI oil samples, showing the technical feasibility of this technique. The Leander Reef–1 FI oil from the top Carynginia Formation shares many biomarker similarities with oils from the Dongara and Yardarino oilfields, which have been correlated with the Early Triassic Kockatea Shale. The heavier isotopic values for the C15-C25 n-alkanes in the Leander Reef–1 FI oil indicate, however, that it is a mixture, and suggest that the main part of this oil (~90%) was sourced from the more terrestrial and isotopically heavier Early Permian Carynginia Formation or Irwin River Coal Measures. This insight would have been precluded when looking at molecular evidence alone. The Houtman–1 FI oil from the top Cattamarra Coal Measures (Middle Jurassic) was sourced from a clay-rich, low sulphur source rock with a significant input of terrestrial organic matter, deposited under oxic to sub-oxic conditions. Biomarkers suggest sourcing from a more prokaryotic-dominated facies than for the other FI oils, possibly a saline lagoon. The Houtman–1 FI oil δ13C CSI n-alkane data are similar to those acquired on the Walyering–2 oil. Possible lacustrine sources may exist in the Early Jurassic Eneabba Formation and are present in the Late Jurassic Yarragadee Formation. The low maturity Gage Roads–2 FI oil from the Carnac Formation (Early Cretaceous) was derived from a strongly terrestrial, non-marine source rock containing a high proportion of Araucariacean-type conifer organic matter. It has some geochemical differences to the presently reservoired oil in Gage Roads–1, and was probably sourced from the Early Cretaceous Parmelia Formation.


Radiocarbon ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 197-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luiz F Rodrigues ◽  
Kita D Macario ◽  
Roberto M Anjos ◽  
João M M Ketzer ◽  
Anderson J Maraschin ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe Rio Grande Cone is a major fanlike depositional feature in the continental slope of the Pelotas Basin, Southern Brazil. Two representative sediment cores collected in the Cone area were retrieved using a piston core device. In this work, the organic matter (OM) in the sediments was characterized for a continental vs. marine origin using chemical proxies to help constrain the origin of gas in hydrates. The main contribution of OM was from marine organic carbon based on the stable carbon isotope (δ13C-org) and total organic carbon/total nitrogen ratio (TOC:TN) analyses. In addition, the 14C data showed important information about the origin of the OM and we suggest some factors that could modify the original organic matter and therefore mask the “real” 14C ages: (1) biological activity that could modify the carbon isotopic composition of bulk terrestrial organic matter values, (2) the existence of younger sediments from mass wasting deposits unconformably overlying older sediments, and (3) the deep-sediment-sourced methane contribution due to the input of “old” (>50 ka) organic compounds from migrating fluids.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7189
Author(s):  
Beniamino Russo ◽  
Manuel Gómez Valentín ◽  
Jackson Tellez-Álvarez

Urban drainage networks should be designed and operated preferably under open channel flow conditions without flux return, backwater, or overflows. In the case of extreme storm events, urban pluvial flooding is generated by the excess of surface runoff that could not be conveyed by pressurized sewer pipes, due to its limited capacity or, many times, due to the poor efficiency of surface drainage systems to collect uncontrolled overland flow. Generally, the hydraulic design of sewer systems is addressed more for underground networks, neglecting the surface drainage system, although inadequate inlet spacings and locations can cause dangerous flooding with relevant socio-economic impacts and the interruption of critical services and urban activities. Several experimental and numerical studies carried out at the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) and other research institutions demonstrated that the hydraulic efficiency of inlets can be very low under critical conditions (e.g., high circulating overland flow on steep areas). In these cases, the hydraulic efficiency of conventional grated inlets and continuous transverse elements can be around 10–20%. Their hydraulic capacity, expressed in terms of discharge coefficients, shows the same criticism with values quite far from those that are usually used in several project practice phases. The grate clogging phenomenon and more intense storm events produced by climate change could further reduce the inlets’ performance. In this context, in order to improve the flood urban resilience of our cities, the relevance of the hydraulic behavior of surface drainage systems is clear.


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